


Amid The Grey Stones

by TheSpectralDuke



Series: Reinette and Rhel'to [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Blow Jobs, Cowgirl Position, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Lemon, NSFW, Not Beta Read, Porn with Feelings, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:35:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27929113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpectralDuke/pseuds/TheSpectralDuke
Summary: Three days after their night in the Sea of Clouds, Rhel'to has met Reinette each day since for a few brief moments and ponders their future. But when she comes to the manufactory disowned, distraught and hurt, he soon finds his doubts and fears burnt to ash in the flames of love and passion.
Relationships: Original Character/Original Character
Series: Reinette and Rhel'to [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2045083
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Amid The Grey Stones

**Author's Note:**

> So it turns out I just really love these two a lot and want to give them more fluff even when it comes with angst.
> 
> Thanks to all the kind folks at the Bookclub for creating a warm, welcoming environment for me to hone all the smut ideas I keep having.

Despite the rain lashing down hard on Ishgard's stones and the cold wind that bit right to the bone, Rhel'to Elakha stood stripped to his shirt with sleeves rolled up as he worked away. The Skysteel Manufactory was always warm, steam hissing through pipes, furnaces stoked ready to pour molten metal for Stephanivien's latest stroke of genius in Ishgard's service. The Dragonsong War was nearly a year past, the anniversary of its end looming closer, but still the inventor's mind whirred away with new ideas, new boons to help Ishgard's recovery, new tools for the arsenal of the machinists he had worked so hard to make a reality. Though the keeper of the moon lagged far behind the best of them, behind even the average, Stephanivien had never treated him as anything less than a trusted colleague where most of Ishgard looked down their noses at a 'wild miqo'te straight from the Shroud' as one guard had so put it when he first dared to venture across the Steps of Faith.

Three suns had passed since that fateful sun, the time creeping by like every bell was stretched out over a sun itself. Even though the Manufactory filled his nose with the scents of metal, oil and levin all mingled into one bitter tang, still Rhel'to felt haunted by _her_ scent, her taste lingering in his memory even though it had been a sun since they last saw one another, a furtive kiss in the shadows of an alley away from prying eyes. Reinette hadn't wanted secrecy, the walnut-haired keeper knew, and he found it bittersweet in turn, but once dawn broke the haze of their night of passion reality had struck cold as the wind. She was still _Lady_ Clothilde and he just a rat of the Brume, less even, a foreigner from beyond Coerthas, a miqo'te while she was an elezen.

Frowning Rhel'to toyed at Stephanivien's latest offering. The Automaton Queen, he called it, something akin to Garlean warmachina if smaller in scale. An automated soldier in its own right, able to fight beside the machinist for a time. Fingers played in its innards, repairing the damage done in a field test that had mostly been a success until a stray behemoth had decided the automaton was a threat to its territory and promptly mauled it until a tangled mess of steel remained.

“How fares it?” Stephanivien asked, sweeping Rhel'to's troubled thoughts away like a spring breeze as he approached. If there was one thing the two elezen dearest to the miqo'te had in common, it was how they buried their nobility under practical garb, Reinette in her trousers and jerkin, Stephanivien dressed just like the machinists he endeavored to train, overcoat, goggles and all. But something seemed amiss with the Haillenarte son, his usual smile lost to a bleak frown.

“Not well,” Rhel'to admitted, resting his hands on the workbench with a sigh. “The behemoth-”

“Forgive me, but I don't believe the behemoth is the only problem,” Stephanivien interjected. “Rhel'to, since you came down from the Sea of Clouds, I feel like you left your head _up there_ and whatever else I might be, I'm certainly not a fool.” He leaned back against the wall by the bench, looking more at the green-eyed keeper than the ruin of his invention, but Rhel'to kept his eyes on the metal rather than the elezen.

“You've been kinder to me than I could ever repay, Stephanivien,” he murmured. “I don't want to cause you or the Manufactory trouble after that.”

Stephanivien sighed gently. “You have a visitor, Rhel'to.” That made him look up, surprised. Who would come to visit him _here_? “Young Lady Clothilde, in quite a state. _Hurt_ , though she will not tell me how or who. She only asked for you.”

“Reinette?” Her name slipped out before he could catch himself, a little spark dancing in the inventor's eye. Immediately Rhel'to stood, his stool scraping over the stone floor. “Where is she?”

“In the reception,” Stephanivien said immediately. “Rhel'to, take the rest of the day off. I can take care of this,” he indicated the ruined Queen.

Rhel'to paused just a second. “Thank you, Stephanivien,” he said, meeting the elezen's eyes for an instant before he was off at haste. He almost vaulted a workbench in his haste, merely skirting its edge and leaving the hyur woman at it to shout after him even as he passed through the doorway and down the stairwell. Even his keen balance nearly failed him, a hand flailing to catch the rail before he could tumble. That forced the keeper of the moon to slow a little, just enough that he no longer risked falling as he descended the second flight of stairs and burst into the reception.

Grass green eyes swept the room, passing over the hissing press and the desk behind which Fromelaut stood, around to find Aelmer and Pelderain at the table near him. There she was between them, looking up at him with those beautiful eyes blue as the sky but marred by red. Reinette's dress was visibly sodden, had she come down all the way from the Pillars without so much as a parasol? A thin red line was torn across her cheek, the weal left by a whip or crop, he could only guess. The sight of it made his heart ache and his blood run cold.

“Reinette,” he said, making for her like the other men in the room didn't exist. Pelderain obligingly moved aside, Aelmer following as the miqo'te slipped into the chair beside Reinette's. Fingers gently rested on her shoulder, feeling the cold and damp of her blue dress even through his gloves.

“Rhel'to,” she said, his name less than a whisper but seething like the furnaces he had left behind. Uncaring for the three pairs of eyes that rested on him Rhel'to pulled her close, held her _tight_ to his chest, mouth pressed into her hair. She shuddered in his grip, a slip of his feet knocking something soft below the table. The miqo'te dared to glance for just a second, finding a bag that looked hastily packed and just as drenched as the woman in his arms. Puzzle pieces joined in his mind, forming a grim picture even incomplete.

“What happened?” he asked softly, rubbing his palms on her back. Her arms slipped around him in turn, a warm belt around his midriff he had missed so dearly since their night in the Sea of Clouds.

“My family heard,” Reinette said, surely the others could hear her but it was like what little caution she had entertained was gone entirely. “Someone saw us in the alley yesterday, Rhel'to, and it was the talk of the Pillars.” Rhel'to closed his eyes, tightening his hold on her. “I... I am a Clothilde no longer.” Her voice cracked like glass, her fragile facade on the verge of collapsing entirely.

“Come on,” the machinist whispered. “It isn't far to my room.”

“But your work-”

“Stephanivien understands,” he said simply, slowly helping her up with him, his glance at the others in the room a challenge. All those times in the Sea of Clouds he had protected her, watched over her from a distance with feelings growing in his chest, but if he had felt Ishgard dampened her joy then in that moment she seemed quenched entirely. Her shoulders fell low, her head bowed as she hauled her bag up, his arm never leaving her as they made for the door, stopping just long enough for him to retrieve his jacket from where it hung nearby.

“Master Rhel'to,” Fromelaut said. Rhel'to turned to find the elezen extending an umbrella toward him. He took it with a smile, leading Reinette up the staircase, feeling their eyes on him and her as they made for the door. As soon as they stepped out onto grey stone the storm was upon them, rain lashing over him, the wind threatening to tear the umbrella from his hand once he got it open. Reinette's eyes turned to a shape in the gloom, the statue of her namesake that watched over the forum.

He led her through the storm, letting her have the greater share of the umbrella's shield as they crossed cobblestones caked in slush. It had been a carpet of snow before but the rain had put an end to that, leaving them to trudge until his feet were soaked and cold even from a few hundred yalms of walking. Behind the manufactory were the quarters for those it employed, Stephanivien's generosity enough to ensure a roof over their heads where otherwise they would have been consigned to the depths of the Brume. The rooms were modest, kitchen and bathroom shared between the lot of them, but it was warm and it was home. As he wearily stepped through, attempting to dry his boots before simply taking them off as Reinette did, discarding the umbrella in a battered old stand. Boots in hand he held her hand every step up the staircase, not wanting to let her go at all. They passed another machinist on their way, the black-haired hyur regarding the odd couple curiously on her way down the hall, but Rhel'to's door rose on the right and once it closed behind them they were in a sanctuary.

It was clean, he had always taken pains to keep it in order out of generosity toward Stephanivien, but he found himself even more grateful now that Reinette was inside it. A few keepsakes lay atop a dresser before the thin window, a broken speartip from Masha, a fang from the first wolf he had slain on his own, a stone carved painstakingly with grandma's name, ma's name, Masha, Kehda, Qina, all encircling his own. Reinette meekly set her bag down and he guided her to the bed, pulling her back into his embrace as they sat. The room was warm, heat from the manufactory leaking through the walls to reach them.

“Tell me what you need,” he murmured softly, at last free to kiss her and so he poured his love in her hair. She was taller than him even sitting but he leaned up to press his lips to her crown, hands rubbing up and down her back as she rested against his chest.

“I knew mother wouldn't approve,” Reinette murmured, eyes glazed when he met her gaze. “She _never_ approved, not when I wouldn't put down an ailing chocobo, not when she found me with a servant boy,” Rhel'to had to bury a spark of surprise at that, “not when Finnea won her knighthood while I stayed as I was despite being the older sister. And Finnea never went against mother's whims. But I thought father _might_...” Her voice trembled.

“I don't have to know,” Rhel'to said gently. “Not if it hurts you to tell.”

Reinette shook her head, steeling herself under his gaze. “I told you they would accept you and I or they would be my family no longer. I told them as much and mother attacked me, cursed me for putting myself above the family's good name. She... she...” He felt her fingers come to her cheek, felt them move along the line of that horrible weal.

“You're safe now,” the keeper breathed, brushing a kiss on her forehead and holding her tight to his chest. She hid her face against his neck and he felt her tears spill, hot on his skin as they slipped from her eyes. “You have me, Reinette, _always_ , I _swear_.”

“I love you,” she said in a voice broken by sobs. “Oh, Rhel'to, I love you, but I fear I have become a burden.”

Rhel'to shook his head. “You could never be a burden to me, Reinette. You make me feel lighter just by being with me, and I love you more than any other.” Beneath his soft words his blood burned. He had never seen Reinette's mother so she was a shadow in his mind with riding crop in hand, looming over Reinette, angry words on her lips as the crop-

Reinette fidgeted against his breast, lips touching his neck just a moment to bring him out of the nightmarish vision. “What will we do now?”

“I will speak to Stephanivien about you staying here,” Rhel'to promised. “He's a good man. I'm sure he wouldn't object to me providing for you.” He longed to do _more_ , rare anger roused, fingers aching to avenge her pain, but his sense shackled it. What could he do? There was no 'justice' he could deal out without ensuring his own fate was sealed, and without him who else would Reinette have? He swallowed his rage and poured his love on her instead, kissing down over her face as her eyes lidded, pressing his lips to hers in an embrace that he wanted to last for eternity.

“Thank you,” Reinette murmured, her fingers caressing his cheek. “I will do all I can, Rhel'to. I never want to just sit back and live off the fruits of your labor.” They stayed like that a while, foreheads touching, arms on one another.

“You need to change,” the miqo'te murmured. “Even in here, you'll catch a cold going about in the damp, love, and I think your poor bag needs time to dry out.” She smiled at him. “I have some spares that were a little too big, mayhap they will fit you for now.” Reluctant as he was to let her go he did so to rummage in the dresser, her hand never leaving his side and gently stroking like she needed to cling to him. He glanced back to meet her gaze as he searched, trying to bathe her in tenderness with eyes alone, wanting to pull the covers over them and cuddle her tight to keep the world at bay until she felt ready to face it. At last his efforts yielded fruit, a shirt that reached past his waist and trousers that only a tight belt kept up at his hips, kept in the vain hope he might either grow into them or salvage them for something else.

He was glad to find good use for them.

“Thank you,” Reinette said once again, already beginning to unlace her dress. Rhel'to looked away bashfully, surprised at himself, he had seen far more of her that night in the heavens. But then it had been different up there, all the mundane concerns malms below on the ground. “I don't mind if you watch,” she murmured, standing up behind him as he quickly drew his curtains. “We both saw all of each other before.”

“Even so,” Rhel'to replied gently, trying to find some reason to leave her, to make her cocoa, to find a blanket, anything if only his mind hadn't frozen. “It was different, then. You weren't so...”

“Vulnerable?” she asked, taking a step closer before he heard the dress slump on the floor. “Look at me, Rhel'to.” The miqo'te hesitated then slowly turned, her arms slipping around him. She stood in a camisole and panties close to the ones she had worn that night but pale pink instead of stark white, pressing her lips to his forehead while his chin brushed her chest. Even her skin was damp, the rain had soaked through her clothes that much. Slowly she nestled her head beside his, brushing kisses against his face again and again.

“Reinette,” the keeper breathed, her lips on his silencing him a moment before she moved on. He reciprocated by kissing at the weal on her cheek, tracing the line with his mouth until she sighed.

“I missed this,” she whispered. “Oh gods, has it only been three days, Rhel'to? It felt so much longer.” It had felt the same to him even though they had stolen a few moments each day, finding places to meet away from prying eyes or so they thought. But being able to lay his hands on her without the pressure of time or discovery was heady and liberating, the feel of her body on his utterly divine.

“I love you,” he gasped, unable to contain his swelling feelings. Reinette smiled, her hands rubbing down his back as her advance made him back against the dresser, smothering him in the feel of her. Already his blood heated, already he felt desire rear after he had kept it down for three days since allowing it to run free in the sky. The miqo'te found her lips and took them fiercely, Reinette groaning into him as he dared to rest one hand on her bare thigh and brush his thumb back and forth over the side of her smalls.

“I love you,” the elezen said back, her eyes staring into his like she wanted to bury herself in him and forget the rest of the world. Rhel'to shivered at the raw love in their gaze, more raw than it had been three days before but just as wonderful. No one else had looked at him so and he had never expected to see that look in eyes such as hers. But that only made him feel more in love with her in turn, every small thing burning through his mind. The way she smiled as she lay still to sketch the animals up in the Sea of Clouds. The pride on her face when a drawing was finished, a record of life that didn't involve ending that life, so she said. The joy in her eyes when she had realized how he felt about her, like she too had waited to feel the same.

He felt her hand at his hip, daring round to find his tail until he moaned into her. “Reinette...” he gasped as her fingers brushed over his tailbone, teasing toward that sensitive spot. Menphina, she had him growing hard and he was sure she could feel it. “Reinette, are you sure?” he forced out. She stopped at the words, pulling back from his lips to meet his gaze. Rhel'to swallowed as her wonderful fingers rested in his fur, gathering himself. “I don't want to take advantage, not when you've-”

Reinette gently shook her head. “I _want_ you again, Rhel'to, please.” Lips brushed, so overcome with longing, but still he hesitated and doubted. Still he worried he would cross an invisible line. “You worry and worry so much,” she sighed, strands of hair falling over her face. “Even when I'm stood here in my smalls, you're worrying again, Rhel'to, even after you had all of me before.” She wasn't angry or upset, some strange mix of exasperation and wonder in her voice.

“You've been hurt,” the green-eyed keeper whispered, tracing a finger over that horrible weal. “Not just this, but your family treating you so, all because of-”

“Not because of you!” She spoke quietly but her tone was harder than steel, hard enough to make his breath hitch in his throat. “Rhel'to, their scorn is _not_ your sin to bear. I will never think of it so, and I would never wish for you to either.” Her eyes burned fiercely, like her love burned bright as that of the saint she was named after, a saint who had become so avenging her lost beloved. “I told you that night that I had never been so happy as when I was with you, Rhel'to, that no riches or titles or some cold stone building in the Pillars could bring me the joy I found with you. I _meant_ that. Please...”

Rhel'to burned in her gaze, his love for her an inferno in his breast that yearned to take her in its embrace. Eagerly he did so, meeting her lips halfway between them, kissing her deeply and lovingly. His doubts were so many ashes in the wind before her fire as their passion moved from standing against the dresser to falling into his bed, squeezed tight from yearning and lack of space alike. “Reinette,” he panted, one of her hands cupping his rump with the thumb pressed to his tail's base, the other mussing his hair while it kept his head so perfectly close to hers. His own hands were free to wander with his concerns laid to rest, the one on her hip holding its post and gently kneading the skin of her thigh, the other tracing up and down her spine through her camisole a while then slipping into her hair. The strands were still damp, clinging to his fingers as he stroked softly.

“Oh, I love you,” the elezen sighed against his face, another kiss pressed to his lips, her hands working his jacket off until she could slip it down to the floor. “By the Fury, Rhel'to...” His kisses strayed into her neck to become suckles, soft enough to leave no marks. He felt her fingers creep down and work to unlace his shirt eagerly and he could only encourage her with his touch, brushing his hand through her hair and venturing the other round to cup her rear. Gently his fingers squeezed until she murmured approvingly, the last lace slipping free and her hands working the shirt off of him.

The instant he was bare above the waist Reinette crept down his body while drawing closer still. One leg came to rest atop his own, pressing her hips up against his hard cock in needy rolls that left them both whining for each other. “Reinette,” he groaned as she pressed on his length harder, relishing the feel of her damp body all over him as her arms joined around his neck. He pecked at her lips then delved lower, Reinette obligingly baring her throat to him so he could brush lips then fangs over her skin. The elezen shifted at the latter, gasping at his boldness, he hoped. When he dipped lower onto her collarbone his eyes traced white scrapes where the fangs had touched, a grin on his lips while he kissed down onto her breast. She mewled in delight at the feel of his lips on her, languidly stroking at his ears.

“Oh, Rhel'to, like before,” she cooed. He delved deeper, pressing his mouth into the valley between her breasts, tongue brushing into its depths while she shivered at each stroke, moaned at the wet touch on that valley's floor. She clung him to her bust until he felt like he would drown in her, relishing the way her moans and groans reverberated against him. A turn of his head let him favor one breast while his ear on the other let him hear her heart beating at a gallop.

Surely his own was the same, racing with his wish to please her again.

His hands crept over her back to meet at the straps of her camisole, slipping them over the crests of her shoulders then tugging the whole garment down with them. Slowly the damp cloth peeled clear of her breasts, Reinette's smile when he looked up like the sun's rays on his face. Rhel'to bowed his head back down to her beautiful chest, pink nipples hardening on pale skin greeting him before he seized one between his lips. He suckled like he had three days past, remembering it so keenly, tongue finding her sensitive spots and scraping over them until his name poured from her throat like fine wine. Every time it brushed over his ears Rhel'to felt shivers dance through his bones, so alight with love and joy, so longing to make love with Reinette again in his own bed this time. She answered his wish keenly, brushing her sex against him with only a few layers of cloth between that wonderful goal.

Slowly they tipped so she was more atop him and he beneath her, his worship at her chest moving to her other nipple while one hand brushed the same stroke through her hair over and over. The other continued to gently tease her rear, reveling in how gorgeous Reinette was in every way he could, touching all of her most intimate places at once with raw delight that she not only let him, but that she longed for him to do so.

“Oh love,” he moaned onto her breast as she scraped over his cock, bucking his hips in answer, unable to cage his desire. Reinette barely seemed to try to contain her own, like she longed to lose herself in him and put her family behind her.

“Kiss me,” she breathed heavily on his ear, her siren voice bringing his head back up and his lips to hers. They met quickly and fervently, hot and fierce, their lips never parting as their faces pressed tight then drew back to repeat. He dared to dig his fingers into her rump and Reinette moaned right into his mouth, their tongues slipping together to dance as his tail rested against her thigh. Reinette rolled her hips atop him, riding him as though she was utterly starved of his intimate touch.

Only three days had passed, but Rhel'to knew that feeling so well that they might have been parted for years.

Reinette broke the kiss, a strand of spittle hanging between them an instant only to inevitably snap and splash over his chin. She giggled at the sight, Rhel'to purring in contentment as her hips continued their work for a few strokes. “My love,” he breathed huskily, staring into her blue eyes and letting his hands move to gently caress her thighs either side of his hips. “Oh, gods, that feels so good, Reinette...” Her hands crept over his chest, tangling in his hairs before coming to rest beneath his throat so she could lean in for another kiss.

“Do you want me to try and suck you again?” she crooned softly as they slipped an ilm apart.

“Only if you want to,” the keeper replied. He longed to do much and more, see her bare as her nameday again, taste her nectar while she squirmed again, make sweet love to her again, but only ever if she wished to do it. The sparkle in her eyes was answer enough even before she nodded, the elezen dragging the camisole back over her breasts then her head to be rid of it entirely. She wriggled her way back down his body as it fluttered to the floor, scraping her sex over the bulge in his trousers and tearing a whine from his throat. She glanced up with such a grin on her lips that surely that was the reaction she had wanted, and Rhel'to was nothing less than glad to oblige her, grinning back while she trailed kisses over his belly and undid his trousers at the same time.

As soon as she had them loose, her fingers hooked in trousers and smalls both, yanking them down eagerly until his cock sprang free. Reinette brought her mouth to the weeping tip, breath then lips brushing on it as her hands worked off his trousers and smalls to send them to the floor. Only his socks remained as the elezen perched herself between his legs, slowly wrapping a hand around his shaft while her mouth edged carefully over the tip. Flicks of her tongue sent sparks of pleasure dancing through his length, Rhel'to's head flopping back to the pillow, one of his hands gathering her hair to hold it free of her face while she worked.

“Thank you,” Reinette murmured, warm breath enveloping his red slick head a moment before her lips pressed to the tip then parted to begin taking it. The miqo'te forced his head back up, mindful of how she had choked on him before. A few times she wavered, eyes lidded and throat shivering, but each time she took a second then continued. She took the whole head then drew back, sliding her lips up and down, bathing him in the warm wet of her mouth and teasing him with wonderful little brushes of her tongue. Groans poured from his mouth as she took him deeper toward her throat, eyes fixed on his face when he managed a glance down at her. It was an obscenely perfect image that stuck in his head, her eyes wide and bright, her mouth wrapped around his shaft with his hand still holding her hair at bay, and Rhel'to swore the sight would haunt his dreams.

“Oh, my love!” he groaned as another ilm of him slipped between her lips, so close to having the whole of his member bathed in her warmth and her nose just brushing on coarse walnut curls around his base. Again she stopped to keep her urge to gag in check, eyes beginning to water at the effort until at last she could only slip off of his shaft and heave deep gasps. Spittle strands snapped in her wake, his cock drenched and her chin glistening while Rhel'to leaned over to just feel her against him. “You're wonderful, Reinette, so _wonderful_ ,” he breathed an instant before they kissed, gripping each other tight as he pulled her down to the mattress with him. Their bodies rubbed on one another, only her panties and his socks in the way of them being perfectly, intimately naked once again.

Reinette evidently sought to remedy that, for as soon as the kiss broke she shifted her legs off the bed and began working the panties off her hips. Down her thighs they slid, sodden with rain and slick both as they hit the floor with a wet splat. They shared a wry smirk between them at that comedic touch before she turned to tug off his socks and add them to the pile they had built on the tatty rug, simply laying a moment once they were both bare to drink him. The keeper gladly did the same, eyes starting at hers then running down her throat, over her breasts and across her belly to find her flower just like he had in the cave.

Shaven skin lay around the wet folds, so smooth to Rhel'to's touch when he reached out to rub his fingertips on her again. Her own hand took his cock again, the two exploring one another as their eyes met once more and together they moaned. Carefully Rhel'to brushed his fingertip through her petals, blood quickening at how her breath hitched, heart dancing when she moaned at his gentle touch on her clit. Reinette all but pounced for him, their hands never leaving one another while their lips met. He continued to finger her as she stroked him, burying his spare fingers in her hair to tend her head while hers reciprocated with loving brushes against his ear. The miqo'te mewled and purred, her touch was overwhelming, before Reinette he had had nothing but his own hand to tend his longing, keeper women tended to scorn a man who could bring them nothing but carrion and foraged berries he had learned bitterly.

But Reinette _loved_ him regardless, cherished him regardless, and he poured his own love back in every way he could, caressing her hair, rubbing his tongue on hers and slipping his fingers inside her to tend her most intimate place. The elezen whimpered into his mouth as Rhel'to stroked his fingertips on her walls, his fingers curling within her until she cried his name and shuddered against him. The kiss broke and the miqo'te lowered his head to her breasts once again, his hand on the back of her head following her as she came to kiss at his ears.

“Rhel'to, my love,” she moaned, tongue brushing over a tip and making him shiver. Rhel'to licked at her pebbled nipple the same way, savoring the way Reinette whined each time he stroked his tongue across the hard pink nub before he took it between his lips again. The miqo'te dared to use his teeth, gripping her as tightly as he dared while his tongue lavished her tit, her every moan and cry the most divine sounds in the world when they sang right against his ear. All the while they continued stroking and fingering, bringing one another closer and closer to the edge. Rhel'to dared to dream they might orgasm together, reach their peaks as one like in the romances he had chanced to glance at. He didn't know for truth whether it worked like that in reality, he had finished before her in the Sea of Clouds, but mayhap this time it would be different.

“Oh, Reinette,” he groaned as her thumb rubbed a circle on his tip. “Can we make love again?”

The auburn-haired elezen breathed heavier on his ear, pressing a kiss to his scalp before she answered. “By the Fury, _yes_ Rhel'to, ah-!” His fingers curled inside her and Reinette's back arched, a note of absolute pleasure singing from her mouth. She fell back against him and panted for breath, releasing his cock and moving them both with desperate longing in her eyes. “Every night I dreamed of it,” she breathed as she rested her hands on his chest, her hips hanging over his aching length.

“So did I,” the miqo'te confessed. She had haunted his dreams before that but making love to her for real had only made those dreams more vivid, more erotic, him taking her in every way in every place, making passionate love to the most beautiful woman in his world again and again without a care for who heard, who saw, who _knew_. “How stupid I was,” he breathed, almost laughing, loving the way Reinette's fingers stroked through his hairs and on his skin. “All the secrecy, all the hiding...”

Reinette shook her head. “You were being the sensible one while I had my head in the clouds.”

“Stephanivien said I had _my_ head in the clouds,” Rhel'to laughed, loving how her smile spread over her lips and her laughter rang out. “I suppose we were both truly happy up there, so it only makes sense.”

“Stay with me,” Reinette beamed, one hand rubbing on his skin as it sought his cock. Fingers took his shaft and forced it to point like an arrow to her sex, the miqo'te groaning at her touch but nodding in earnest. Slowly the elezen lowered herself until they met, moaning in tandem as hard cock head pressed on her sodden folds. “Oh, Rhel'to...” she sighed as she sank onto him, taking him into her once again. She was as perfect as Rhel'to remembered, her walls embracing his length in their sodden heat and bathing him in absolute pleasure. Reinette's moans grew louder and fiercer, his name slipping from her lips like a mantra as his lover shuddered atop him.

Their hips met, his eyes fixed on her face as they both stilled for a moment to savor the feeling. Rhel'to stretched up to reach Reinette's shoulders, stroking his fingertips on them until the elezen sighed contently.

“You feel so incredible, love,” Rhel'to murmured, rubbing his thumbs in circles on her skin, holding her gaze as his gorgeous lover beamed down at him. Slowly, cautiously Reinette rose again, both of them groaning as her walls brushed against his cock, rising so he was almost entirely out of her before sinking back down. The cycle repeated a few times, quickening with each.

“Rhel'to, oh _gods_ ,” she cooed, her head falling back to let her hair tumble across her shoulders. Strands stroked on Rhel'to's hands, another sensation to make the feel of her overwhelming. He wanted more, _needed_ more, tugging on her shoulders until she accepted and fell. Her face pressed on his hair, his mouth at her breast while their hips adjusted to the new position. Now rather than Reinette doing all the work, Rhel'to joined her in earnest, thrusting into her from beneath until she cried his name right against an ear. His mouth worshiped at the alter of her breasts, praying her name each time he took her to his hilt. The room had been warm when they began, but quickly they sweltered in the throes of passion with sweat beading on their skin. Even so, stopping was impossible, unthinkable, at least until they had both sated their longing for one another.

“Reinette!” he cried into the hollow of her throat, nipping at her skin as carefully as he could manage while buried in her heat. Reinette shivered atop him, every hard thrust into her core rocking her body, her hips falling back each time to meet him for the next push into her. Their breaths came in pants and moans, voices husky as they sang the song of passionate love with their names the most common lyrics. Rhel'to's hands scraped on her back, clenched tight as the elezen rode him like her steed on the road to paradise, he had taken her to happiness and now she invited him to join her in bliss.

“Oh Rhel'to, please, I'm _close_ oh _Fury_ -!” Her lips closed on his ear, suckling until he groaned in answer, panting her name with every deep thrust right into her spot. He brushed his hands lower down her back, both of them sodden with sweat and burning with love, he didn't care who heard them, he didn't care who knew, he just wanted to please her over and over and over until she lay contented in his arms. He struck Reinette's spot again and she screamed for the heavens to hear, her cry ringing in his ears, his nails biting at her skin as he held his length in her wonderful sex before pulling back again.

“Kiss me Reinette!” he whimpered, angling his head up as hers came down, their eyes squeezed closed as their lips pressed hard. The miqo'te kept going, feeling rather than hearing every wonderful sound she made as their lovemaking headed for its climax, clinging tight to Reinette with his hands creeping up to clutch at her shoulder blades. She breathed hot against him in moans and cries, her hair washing across his face as she rocked back and forth in time with his thrusts. “Oh Menphina, by _Menphina_...”

“ _Rhel'tooooooo_!” He felt her tighten around him, her fingers clenching in the bedding as her voice broke into a long high note. Reinette shuddered and shivered atop him, his cock burying deep in her one last time as he too hit his orgasm just seconds behind. He felt her slick splash over his length and drench his hips, his seed gushing out to fill her in return while the miqo'te pressed searing kisses to her neck, pouring his own ecstatic cries of her name right into her skin while she poured his name on his hair and ears over and over. They were mad and ablaze and perfect, dancing atop a hurricane of joy, clinging to each other as adamant rocks in a storm. His face rose as hers fell, glazed eyes finding one another as at last the miqo'te spent his seed inside her heat, coming down from that glorious high, crashing back down toward the room, the bed, reality.

Trying to cling to her divine wonder Rhel'to pressed his kisses on her sweet face, trying to let her feel the fathomless depths of his love for her with that alone. His lips found the weal on her cheek and even that he kissed over and over. No matter what her family felt, no matter how they had treated her, he would love her, he promised with lips on skin, loving her deep gasps as together they collapsed breathless on his bed.

There was silence, broken only by her panting and his. His cock still rested inside her slit, drenched in cooling seed and slick but Rhel'to let it stay a while, his hands softly caressing his lover's back. He found the marks where his nails had bit and soothed them with gentle fingertips, kissing Reinette again and again between breaths, her own mouth pressing soft butterfly kisses to his ear as she crooned quietly to him. The sounds of the manufactory slowly came back to break the bubble, the din of the machines, the shouting of the workers, but the lovers nestled in a bubble of affection with Reinette slowly moving to rest on the sheets rather than him. They lay side by side with their heads squeezed together onto his pillow.

“I don't think anyone thought I would have to share this bed,” Rhel'to chuckled, winning a smile back.

“We can fit,” Reinette answered lovingly, pecking at his lips. They lay naked atop the covers a while, caressing and kissing, just basking in their afterglow with their release cooling and drying. “We ought to bathe or else everyone we meet will know precisely what we did from our scent.”

“As if I care if they know,” Rhel'to breathed. “I love you, Reinette. I wish things had happened differently, that your family hadn't found out so, that your mother hadn't-”

Reinette shook her head, silencing him with a kiss. “It is done, Rhel'to,” she murmured, a hand rubbing on his ear until he purred. “Is it ideal? No, undoubtedly, but it is done. And besides,” the hand brushed down past his forehead, cupping his cheek as she just stared into his eyes, “I have everything I could want or need right here.”

Tears brimmed in Rhel'to's eyes, her words tapping a wellspring of joy deep inside him. Immediately her lips were on his face as he sobbed against her, kissing each and every tear from his cheeks before coming back to his mouth. Even with the taste of salt on her lips he relished kissing her over and over, loved holding her tight in his arms. Over and over they kissed, over and over they whispered that they loved each other, for how long he didn't know or care. Eventually it had to end, eventually they would have to get up and wash and begin sorting out the rubble her family had left her in, but for the time being all Rhel'to wanted to do was cling to his beautiful, wonderful lover and let her know that he would be there until the very end. He caressed her with fingers and tail both over and over, every ilm of him against every ilm of her in a warm embrace.

“I suppose I will need to take a new surname,” Reinette mused as they lay still, her thumb just slowly stroking over his chin again and again. Again the elezen leaned in to kiss his face, just once gently but his heart fluttered at the brush of her lips on his nose. “I can hardly call myself Reinette Clothilde when my family considers me a disgrace to the name and much else bad besides.” Rhel'to pressed a kiss to the wounded cheek again, trying to soothe the pain that still lurked in her eyes. For all that Reinette had put on a brave face, he could see how she still ached, even if she thought little of her family they were still her family.

For just a moment he pictured the people whose names lay carved on the stone, wondering what grandma and ma and Masha and Kehda and Qina would think of him and her. Would they approve or would he too be turned away in disgust? Rhel'to didn't know and quickly her lips met his, pulling his mind back. Once the kiss ended they breathed a moment, listening to the noise of the manufactory. “What sort of name would you like?” he asked quietly, hand coming to stroke her hair.

Reinette pursued her lips in thought, smiling at his intent gaze. “I would say yours, but mayhap it would be too soon for that.” Rhel'to blushed and shivered at the thought, nodding his agreement. One day, he hoped, but it felt far too forward so soon. The miqo'te's doubts and fears might have shrunk considerably, but enough still lingered to feel it wasn't yet right. Reinette's blue eyes lifted from his face upward, the elezen leaning up over him for the curtain with his head pressed against her breast.

“Ah, Reinette,” he breathed, trying to look up at her face as her nipple brushed his cheek.

“Sorry, love,” she smiled back down, staring at a slit of white light as she brushed the curtain to one side a moment. “Ah, Rhel'to, look.” He shifted to join her, leaning on the dresser to avoid falling as they peeked out at the street through frosted glass. Before their eyes white flakes drifted gently down toward the gray stones, the skies a blanket of lighter clouds than before set to pour snow on Ishgard like confetti at a wedding. They watched a while in contentment, Rhel'to slowly resting his head on her shoulder and feeling her arm wrap around him. Reinette turned to press a kiss in his hair before looking back at the snowfall, it wasn't anything they hadn't seen before but to just watch it in her embrace made the miqo'te feel like a flame warmed him from within.

“I love you,” he murmured.

“I love you, Rhel'to,” Reinette crooned back with another kiss, looking at him rather than the snow once her lips moved back. “How does Reinette Snowsfall ring to you, my love?” The miqo'te smiled back, kissing her fiercely until she sighed into his mouth, then pulling back to stare lovingly into her eyes.

“Like a beautiful name for the most beautiful woman,” he beamed.

Reinette giggled. “You are far, far too kind to me, Rhel'to. But I thank you.” Another kiss passed as they tumbled back down onto the bed, cuddling close, kissing back and forth in a chain neither of them wanted to end. Only the demand for air from burning lungs finally put a stop to it, leaving them softly panting against each other, eyes ablaze with love and longing.

“Well, Reinette Snowsfall,” the miqo'te purred. “I think we have some time before work finishes at the manufactory and everyone comes to fight over the bathroom, so mayhap we should see how well those clothes you so _lovingly_ dropped fit you and then make for the shower while we have our chance.”

She laughed, pressing one last kiss to his lips. “That sounds like a wonderful idea, Rhel'to. Shall we, together?” Together they pounced from the bed, scrambling for their clothes, grinning like giddy children as they dressed in a rush. Every moment Rhel'to could do nothing but smile at her, overcome with love as he watched her dress in his clothes, share his bed, kiss his face before they slipped out the door. He knew that what lay ahead would be hard, that even with any help Stephanivien might provide them that for a time at least they would struggle.

But it was worth it. _She_ was worth it, he thought as the bathroom door closed and bolted shut. Another longing kiss slammed to her lips as he stroked his hands up and down her back, ready to undress her while she did the same for him. For Reinette Snowsfall, with Reinette Snowsfall, he would weather any storm that came with her as his rock, unyielding as the gray stones of Ishgard.


End file.
